Endangered Red and Yellow Mountain Frogs Are Bred for First Time–Years of Work to Save the Species

A unique and beautiful mountain-dwelling frog has been bred in captivity and released in the wild—the culmination of years of work by scientists and conservationists.

Dwelling in rainforests at higher elevation in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales states in Australia, the red and yellow mountain frog was one of 110 priority species the government hoped to save over the next 25 years.

Captive breeding programs are rarer in amphibians than other animals, but the researchers at Southern Cross University have managed it. It required them to replicate much of the frog’s natural habitat; a challenging demand.

Unlike other tadpoles that swim around and feed, the infant red and yellows develop inside their egg sacs and emerge just three millimeters in length—another challenge as